Kent Bush: Take your crooked letters and leave

Friday

Jul 18, 2014 at 11:15 AM

Something to say on several topics

Kent Bush

Sometimes it is hard to find something interesting to write about. It can be just as hard when you have several things you want to write about. Brace yourself, this could be a wild ride.Pro-pot Republicans?Several Republican candidates in Kansas this primary season are running as the pro-legalize marijuana candidates. That seems strange on the surface but most are saying the effects of marijuana use are not as bad as the positive effects of taxing the drug would be for the state.There is even a petition in Wichita trying to legalize the drug locally.Arguing that marijuana should be a cash crop for the state is only part of the discussion however. In Afghanistan, they have as many poppy fields as wheat fields. I don’t think we want opiates legalized just to benefit from the tax dollars.Alcohol is legal and regulated. Of course, teenagers violate age restrictions on alcohol consumption and adults violate regulations on overconsumption and driving under the influence of alcohol on a daily basis.The amount of money spent to curtail illegal use of marijuana and jail sentences for those who possess and use the drug are excessive compared to other more violent and problematic crimes.None of the pro-pot Republicans are likely to advance in their elections but it has certainly made the debates and campaign t-shirts more interesting.Mississippi poll tells a lotIt is really surprising that NASA has a space center in Mississippi. It doesn’t seem like there are any rocket scientists there.A poll of voters in the most recent Senate Primary showed 37 percent of the Republicans polled and nine percent of the Democrats supported their state seceding from the union. I guess it makes sense that people who still fly rebel flags might want to have a “do over” on the whole Civil War thing, but they better be careful what they wish for.Americans aren’t overly excited about losing Texas so when they start talking secession, officials push back quickly.But if we lose Mississippi, the national average ACT score would improve significantly. Mississippi is dead last with students there averaging just over 18 on the test.The southern state known for its four “crooked letters,” is also among the worst when it comes to residents on federal welfare. Forbes magazine recently listed Mississippi among 11 states that have more people on the government dole than gainfully employed.So while we are willing to fight to keep Texas and its oil money and America’s favorite professional football team, we aren’t going to be so quick to beg Mississippi to stay.Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, Mississippians.KKKandy?I hope this trick doesn’t really work.In South Carolina, the Ku Klux Klan is hoping to piggyback on the racist response to immigration reform efforts to help expand their membership rolls.Xenophobia is a close cousin of racism so the KKK is striking while the iron is hot.But the method they are using in South Carolina scares me. They are handing out goodie bags. They handed out bags of peppermints – where red and white candies live in harmony – that featured the slogan, “Save our land, join the Klan.”That’s catchy stuff.The best thing about the effort is that they are distributing the goodie bags door to door. There is no telling how many free bags of candy they have given to black or Hispanic families. Apparently the Klan doesn’t discriminate when it comes to handing out candy.One high-ranking KKK member told a local television reporter why, “I mean, we can't tell who lives in a house, whether they're black, white, Mexican, gay, we can't tell that. And if you were to look at somebody's house like that, that means you'd be pretty much a racist."He has a point.My mind is boggled by the idea that a resident of South Carolina could be sitting in his house thinking, “You know, I wasn’t a racist this morning, but these peppermints are tasty and the slogan is so catchy, I think I’ll join the Klan. Martha, cut me some eye holes in my pillow case!”Maybe that cop in Florida who was fired for his ties to the KKK wasn’t really a racist. Maybe he just has a sweet tooth.

Kent Bush is the publisher of the Butler County Times Gazette and can be reached at: kbush@butlercountytimesgazette.com